


Childhood—Adolescence—Youth

by alikssepia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adolescent Kylo, Adolescent Rey, Adult Kylo, Adult Rey, Coming of Age, F/M, Kid Kylo, Kid Rey, Meta, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Meta, Star Wars: Sequel Trilogy, sequel trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-19 07:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14869232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alikssepia/pseuds/alikssepia
Summary: If the middle part of the trilogy is Adolescence, then TFA is Childhood, and the forthcoming EpIX will be Youth. The sequel trilogy, through the eyes of a Reylo, is a story of three encounters of Kylo and Rey whose appearance and behaviour refer to three different psychological ages.





	Childhood—Adolescence—Youth

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Детство — Отрочество — Юность](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14066223) by [alikssepia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alikssepia/pseuds/alikssepia). 



> This is a translation of my meta written originally in Russian.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta [@SaturnineFeline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaturnineFeline) who helped smooth my style!

On December 14, 2017, my Reylo friends and I left the cinema theater with and without a present. We wanted to scream "It's canon!" but our throats wouldn't make a sound.

  
_Reylos after the movie_

What was it? It was as if we’d gotten everything (Force bond, Kylo's naked torso, touching hands, back to back fighting) but, at the same time, our victory seemed hollow: why did their relationship feel so rushed? Why does she slam the door right in his face? Did Reylo become canon and then immediately die?

Rey’s behavior was terribly strange:

  1. After just a couple of Skype calls with Kylo, she quickly leapt to far-fetched conclusions such as 'Ben Solo lives'. 
  2. She attacked Luke, her aging master, from behind, even turning оn him with a lightsaber. 
  3. She refused to listen to him, jumped into the Falcon and went off to "save Ben Solo". 
  4. On the Supremacy, she tried to use her feminine charms — for naught. 
  5. Followed Kylo’s lead and fought the Praetorian guards together with him. 
  6. After this fight’s romantic overtones, she got disappointed in Kylo and flew away. 
  7. Slammed the door of the Falcon, and the door to herself, in Ren’s face. 



Kylo did no better:

  1. Secretly chatted with the girl via Skype. 
  2. Confused her with his half-naked body. 
  3. Touched her (hand). 
  4. Handed her over to Snoke at their first "date". 
  5. But quickly changed his mind and threw the whole galaxy to her feet. 
  6. ... while being casually rude. 
  7. Having been rejected, he got angry and promised to destroy her. 



Is this the love story we all hoped to see оn-screen? Why such haste, when the story could have developed slowly and smoothly?

As an excuse for the galactic idiots (and the idiot scriptwriter who made them that way), I could оnly recall Rian Johnson's point which he constantly repeated in many ways in his [interviews](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/last-jedi-exclusive-rian-johnson-talks-snoke-kylo-ren/): this is a coming-of-age story, Rey and Kylo are “two sides of the same coin” going through the difficult period of adolescence.

Is it really, though? Let’s take a look at the adolescent stage of development.

**Typical adolescents**

| 

**"Adolescent" Kylo and Rey**  
  
---|---  
get a sense of being independent entities from their parents/the adults in their lives | In the film, Kylo and Rey revolt against and detach from their mentors thus becoming "free from adults". From now оn, it's up to themselves to decide what lives to live.  
try to assert themselves and their wills against important adults  
try to assert themselves among their peers | In this context, Hux is Kylo’s peer, and competition for leadership. Kylo claims leadership using the Force. He acts as a bully towards Hux.  
try out their sexuality | The hands scene, in the context of this meta, implies metaphorical adolescence of Kylo and Rey — it's the age when mutual interest manifests itself in just holding hands. Rey asks Kylo to cover himself — it's another reminder that, metaphorically, she's an adolescent girl confused by seeing the guy she likes half-naked — whereas, as we all know (wink, wink), she should enjoy it.  
take self-reliant, often defiant steps | Rey disregards Luke's admonitions and undertakes a dangerous endeavour to entice Kylo Ren to her side.  
make hasty and harsh judgements | Rey's opinion оf Luke makes a U-turn оnce she hears Ren's version of what had happened between him and Luke.  
argue | After Snoke's rebuke, Kylo is outraged and is struck with Force Lightning. The brawl between Rey and Luke is an example of confrontation between an adolescent and an adult when the younger person starts the conflict: aggression, accusations and refusal to listen to the other side.   
feel more keenly | Having realised Kylo won’t turn for her, Rey is in tears. Having realised that Rey has left him again, Kylo is enraged.  
get easily fascinated and easily disappointed | Just a few Skype calls in just a couple of days — and Rey already has an invented idealistic image of Ben Solo and is ready to cross half a galaxy to "save his soul". Daydreams of Prince Charming are quickly dashed. (Compare this to how often girls fall for participants of boys bands.)  
  
Now let's see how the "adults" of this story behave:

**Typical adults or adult abusers***

| 

**"Fathers" Snoke and Luke**  
  
---|---  
are overprotective | Luke storms into Rey's hut and breaks them up — a typical "busted!" situation.  
forbid  
* mock at youngsters' first awkward attempts to assert themselves | Snoke scoffs at Kylo and calls him immature: "Child in a mask".  
* use forceful methods to re-establish the previous boundaries of the relationship | Snoke strikes Kylo with Force Lightning in response to his attempt to argue.  
* underestimate the physical strength of grown-up youngsters  | Accustomed to being the dominant оne, Snoke is slain by an unexpected strike which he could have prevented if he had recognized the agency/power of Kylo.  
  
***

In the summer of 2017, when first оn-set photographs emerged оn the internet, fans suddenly saw Rey's breasts. A romantic hairdo completed her fresh image which, it seemed, showed her growing into womanhood. In the light of this analysis, it is hard to escape a different conclusion: breasts develop when a girl is оn the point of puberty. In The Force Awakens, Rey's breasts were markedly flat, her hairdo pointedly childish, form very thin. In TFA, Rey is metaphorically a SMALL GIRL who is growing into adolescence in The Last Jedi.

If the middle part of the trilogy is **Adolescence** , then TFA is **Childhood** , and the forthcoming EpIX will be **Youth**. The sequel trilogy, through the eyes of a Reylo, is a _story of three encounters of Kylo and Rey whose appearance and behaviour refer to three different psychological ages_. Each age is coded in the actions of the two halves of our protagonist and the way the actors are dressed, carry themselves and play.

**CHILDHOOD (The Force Awakens)**

| 

**ADOLESCENCE (The Last Jedi)**

| 

**YOUTH (EpIX — forecast)**  
  
---|---|---  
  
**Slogan**  
  
_That lightsaber. It belongs to me!_ |  _I'll destroy her. And you. And all of it._ |  [something balanced and wise]  
  
**General impression**  
  
_Petulant, sensitive, pretty, wearing "dress", angry, embarrassed, hysterical_

— Kylo Ren's image in TFA refers to a metaphorical child. In some scenes, it's emphasised by the perspective, by childish facial expression. 

|  _Obstinate, aggressive, daring, seeking privacy with a girl, irritated_

— Kylo's manners and facial expressions in TLJ remind us of those of a moody and awkward teenage boy. 

|  _Focused, consistent, self assured, contained movements, even voice_

— in EpIX, we're going to see "the adult Kylo Ren", and outcries about "whiney boy throwing tantrums" and "teenage boy" will stop.  
  
_Naive, trusting, seeking for belonging, afraid of changes, playing dolls, waiting for mom to come back_

— here again we have references to Rey's metaphorical childishness, but it's less noticeable because Rey is ten years younger than Kylo anyway and has been living in such circumstances that impeded her physical growing-up. And still, in some scenes, Daisy Ridley uses exaggerated childish facial expressions. For instance, see her chew: 

|  _Impulsive, fiery, sexy, touchy, self-reliant_

— Rey's image reminds us that, metaphorically, she's a teenage girl. 

|  _Quiet, reasonable, seeking for an opportunity to reach understanding and sort things out, facing problems rather than running away, she will learn to accept both strengths and weaknesses of others_

— the adult Rey's personality will give Kylo Ren's haters no chance to see his future killer in her, even for the sake of the Light.  
  
**Appearance, hair style**  
  
His helmet off, Kylo appears as a well-groomed arrogant boy — an entitled youngster like those that we've known from [_The Star Child_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_House_of_Pomegranates#The_Star-Child) by Oscar Wilde [[image](http://bm.img.com.ua/dnevnik/photo/4617486/78/22578.jpg)] and [_The Snow Queen_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen) by Hans Christian Andersen [[image](http://xn--i1abbnckbmcl9fb.xn--p1ai/%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8/575943/3.jpg)]. Kylo's hair is luxuriously done and, possibly, even curled almost the way it's done оn the childhood portrait of [Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1846)](http://www.monarchs19.narod.ru/ed.jpg) by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. 

|  Instead of a fine hairstyle and waves, here we have seemingly greasy hair a la [Kurt Cobain](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b4/38/3c/b4383cbde27b2f52b620afcb484fcf94--long-hair-man-short-hair.jpg) which is another reference to rebellious teenage years. 

| Kylo Ren may keep a long hairdo. His hair will be tidy, styled in an adult way. We might no longer see it wave, at least the way it did in TFA.   
  
Rey's hair is tied in three funny buns. Her hairstyle's been the same ever since she was five which reminds is that, metaphorically, she's a child. 

| Rey dives into a wet 'hairy' hole and emerges from it with her hair down оn her shoulders. A young girl's hairstyle refers to the symbolic age of puberty. Since Rey 'explored' the hole, she's been keeping her hair down. 

| Rey might have her hair loose. Because long hair may be inconvenient for a fighter, she may have a shorter haircut.   
  
**Lexical coding**  
  
In The Force Awakens, they call Kylo 'boy' and 'son'. 

They say 'girl' about Rey. 

These words are used where appropriate in the context of the film but, still, they additionally remind us that these characters are kind of 'juniors'.

| Kylo still has two father figures who call him 'child in a mask' and 'kid'. 

Snoke calls Rey 'child' too. 

By the end of the film, both father figures are dead.

| Words 'girl', 'boy', 'son', 'kid' etc won't be used.  
  
**Behaviour with important adults**  
  
Kylo and Rey, lost children, found new important adults after having been left unattended by their parents. 

A child doesn't dare to disobey, and seeks praise for its obedience. When Snoke demanded that Kylo does the inconceivable, Kylo reluctantly obeyed.

| Kylo gets rid of the Not-Important-Anymore Adult because now, Kylo knows what he needs better than the old fart. His reverence for Vader gives place to radicalism and denial of authority: "Let the past die." 

Rey realises she can do things by herself, without adults, and undertakes an adventure all by herself.

| Kylo and Rey get accustomed to being adults. 

Adult way is to respect and use the past experience but set own objectives. 

Rey takes Jedi texts with her. She's оn her own but she admits she needs the legacy of the past. 

Kylo may dismiss the idea to destroy the past. It no longer impedes his moving forward.  
  
**Critical thinking/ Credulity**  
  
A child emulates their authority figure. Thus, Kylo worships Vader's mask, copycats him, intends to follow his path and says words he must have learned from Snoke: "The Supreme Leader is wise", "He was weak and foolish like his father." 

A child doesn't critically assess a given situation. For many years, Rey believed that her parents will come back for her and doesn't even question the chances of it. They may have long been dead, they may have no desire to return.

| Kylo refuses to acknowledge the wisdom of others, rejects any authority — both lightsiders and darksiders, but his radicality puts off Rey. 

Rey argues with Luke, easily questions his version of Ben's fall, but her own conclusions aren’t quite right either.

| Rey and Kylo learn to think critically, don't make hasty conclusions, don't idealise and demonise others.  
  
**Kylo and Rey's relative positions**  
  
Kylo offers Rey to be her teacher, i. e. expects to **be a step higher** than her.  |  Kylo offers Rey to rule the galaxy together, i. e. to **be his peer**.  |  Here I can't be certain about the future development: 

— Will Kylo be humbled, and will Rey rise?  
— Will their confrontation end, and will it be no longer relevant whether they are peers or not?  
  
**Outcome of Kylo and Rey's fights**  
  
Rey wins. 

| No оne wins. 

| Here again, there's room for speculation: 

— Will Kylo win?  
— Will there be no fight between Rey and Kylo?  
  
**Interaction between Rey and Kylo**  
  
Boys are stupid, girls are mean. 

He was pulling her pigtails — she hit him with her school bag. He started to cry and complained to adults. 

| Wow, you can make friends with girls (guys). 

But it's safer to stay with your own people. 

| Boy and girl form a couple. 

The previous breakup was оne of many stages of getting used to each other. This trope is not something unseen in romantic stories, such as _[The Two Captains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Captains)_ by Russian writer Veniamin Kaverin. Two main heroes of this story, Sanya (Alexander) and Katya (Ekaterina) couldn't quite understand each other and accept each other's flaws when they were teenagers, and break up for 9 years. They meet again in their mid-twenties and irrevocably fall for each other.  
  
The sequel trilogy as a metaphorical coming-of-age story for the main heroes (which are Kylo and Rey, in the eyes of a Reylo) is оne of the possible points of view. If this POV proves correct with the release of EpIX, then we'll get that very Reylo-canon we've been waiting for since TFA: romantic relationship of grown-up Kylo and Rey will get its smooth progress via ups and downs and will be based оn mature acceptance of not оnly merits but also flaws of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> A great addition to this meta from @toawaterfowl [on Tumblr](https://toawaterfowl.tumblr.com/post/175049258821/childhoodadolescenceyouth):
> 
>  
> 
> _... extra kudos for referencing Two Captains - it’s a fairly obscure story now, but if you know the gist, you immediately recognize the pattern: one is of a Hero legacy (albeit the girl), one is a Nobody Orphan (the boy), but Hero worshipping, they meet as children, there is hostility, then attraction, then a battle of wills, separation, there is a secret in the Hero Family that makes things complicated and leads to tragedy, they come over the hostility from an Esteemed Member of The Hero Family (also an uncle), they come together, eventually, in adulthood._


End file.
